Weekend Wonderings: Irish, NU and More

Weekend wonderings: With its 20-3 victory at Michigan State on Saturday night (Sept. 15), Notre Dame is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2002. For those who might not recall that year, it was coach Tyrone Willingham’s first season when the Irish won their first eight. Wondering whether the Brian Kelly era will be better than Willingham’s — which led to the Charlie Weis regime.

For disappointed hockey fans, here is Talia of the Blackhawks Ice Crew.

* Northwestern, which beat Boston College 22-13 to improve to 3-0, has announced plans to build a facility (which also will accommodate the women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s soccer teams). It will be located along Lake Michigan. Wondering whether the new facility will facilitate coach Pat Fitzgerald’s ability to walk on water — other than perhaps in winter when the liquid in the lake might be frozen.

* Illinois defeated visiting Charleston Southern 44-0. Wondering whether a tougher opponent might have been some Charleston Chews (especially those candy bars that have been on the shelf a year or two too long). Well, at least they wouldn’t be considered cupcakes, which is pretty much what the Illini’s foe on Saturday looked like.

* Chicago Cubs prospect Jorge Soler took batting practice at Wrigley Field before the team’s 7-6 loss to Pittsburgh. He hit a couple of pitches onto Waveland Avenue and three into the left-fied seats. Wondering whether the idea is to let him see his competition for a spot on the big-league roster and have him feeling optimistic about the future heading into the offseason. Well, optimistic about his chances, if not the team’s.

* Wondering when Adam Dunn will reach 100 walks this season. The White Sox designated hitter has 97 — two fewer than the next two players on the Sox combined (Paul Kornerko with 48 and Alejandro De Aza with 41).

* Speaking of walking, outfielder David DeJesus has 56 to lead the team. Wondering whether the front office, which is said to focus on stats such as on-base percentage, has a remedy to improve the team’s on-base percentage (.301). Only the Seattle Mariners have a lower on-base percentage (.294). No need to wonder how much lower the Cubs can go.

* Wondering what the impact of the NHL lockout — which began at midnight Saturday — will be. Other than to serve as an excuse to run a photo of a Chicago Blackhawks Ice Crew member such as Talia.

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Odds and ends (mostly odds): From the folks at Bovada (www.Bovada.lv, Twitter: @BovadaLV) are some NFL odds. Purely for entertainment purposes, although rumor has it that some people actually wager good money on stuff like this:

Odds to Win Super Bowl XLVII (before the Packers beat the Bears, if that helps anyone)

The odds from Bovada pretty much like the Houston Texans. We definitely like Texans cheerleader Sarah.

If things go according to plan (and occasionally around here, they actually do), we once again will be running Playboy Playmate Jaime Edmondson’s Week 2 NFL picks. We also will be running her pics. You can look for that later today (assuming you actually are reading this before the Sept. 16 games). For those who wish to follow Jaime on Twitter, you can follow her at @jaimeedmondson.